Latinx Chicanx Heritage Month (September 15–October 15) honors the achievements of LatinX, ChicanX, and Hispanics. The terms Latinx and Chicanx have been adopted to be gender inclusive. The celebration was first authorized in 1968, when the US Congress adopted a resolution asking the President to issue a proclamation designating a week in September including September 15 and 16 as “National Hispanic Heritage Week.” In 1988 Congress expanded the celebration to a 31-day period beginning September 15. The resolution calls “on the people of the US, especially the educational community, to observe National Hispanic Heritage Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with celebrations of Independence Day in many Latin American countries—including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile. Read more
For Latinx Chicanx Heritage Month 2022 the MiraCosta Library has a physical and online display about pioneering Civil Rights Activist Sylvia Mendez and the groundbreaking 1945 class action lawsuit brought by her father on behalf of more than 5,000 Mexican American children in Orange County. Sylvia Mendez: This is What Courage Looks Like
Hollywood success Danny Trejo narrowly avoided the death penalty. When he eventually secured his release from prison, the reformed Trejo turned his life around and, against all odds, embarked on a prolific acting career, appearing in a variety of films. Full Bio
Short story author, essayist, and critic and he child of Cuban immigrants, Carmen Maria Machado is artist in residence at the University of Pennsylvania. Her short fiction, essays, and criticism has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. Full Bio
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrived on the national political scene in June of 2018 following a primary win in which she ousted a ten-term Democratic Party incumbent on the road to representing New York's 14th congressional district in Washington. Full Bio
César Chávez was a grass-roots labor organizer who rose from the ranks of California migrant workers to form and lead the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), it was the first effective agricultural union in the United States. Full Bio
Julián Castro was elected mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 2009 at age 35, the youngest person elected mayor of a top 50 city. In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed him as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Full Bio
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American playwright, actor, composer, and performer. As the creator of the critically acclaimed and popular musical Hamilton, he received various awards, including two Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Full Bio
Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales was an activist and spokesperson for the Chicano movement in the US. His only published work, the epic poem I Am Joaquín/Yo Soy Joaquín (1967), is mostly considered a social commentary. Full Bio
Writer Julia Alvarez has expressed her feelings about her immigration to the United States. She was born in New York City of Dominican parents, who returned to their native land with their newborn daughter. Alvarez has used her dual experience as a starting point for the exploration of culture through writing. Full Bio
Cofounder and first vice president of the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta (sometimes referred to as Dolores "Huelga, " Spanish for "strike") is the most prominent Chicana labor leader in the United States. Full Bio
Gloria Anzaldua's strength as a Chicana lesbian writer and activist has long been based on a certain defiance of what is expected of her, a rejection of what popularly constitutes political correctness, and a steadfast refusal to accept any of the labels applied to her. Full Bio
Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, America is an actor and activist. She has acted in many roles that relate to her experiences as a Latina in the United States and gained notoriety for her social and political activism in recent years—focused on women's rights and immigrants' rights issues. Full Bio
Niñera looks at the bitter ironies manny nannies face, raising the children of strangers for a living while their own children are left to virtually raise themselves.
Seen through the eyes of small, midsize and large Mexican maize producers, SUNU knits together different stories from a threatened rural world. This film documents how people realize their determination to stay free, to work the land and cultivate their seeds, to be true to their cultures and forms of spirituality, all in a modern world where corn is being threatened at the center of its origin: Mexico.
Precious Knowledge reports from the frontlines of one of the most contentious battles in public education in recent memory, the fight over Mexican American studies programs in Arizona public schools. The film interweaves the stories of several students enrolled in the Mexican American Studies Program at Tucson High School with interviews with teachers, parents, school officials, and the lawmakers who wish to outlaw the classes.
Stolen Education documents the untold story of Mexican-American school children who challenged discrimination in Texas schools in the 1950's and changed the face of education in the Southwest.The film portrays the courage of these young people, testifying in an era when fear and intimidation were used to maintain racial hierarchy and control. The students won the case, but for almost sixty years the case was never spoken about in the farming community where they lived despite its significance.
Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century--and she continues the fight to this day, at 87.
This film follows the efforts of community leaders working to ensure Latino voter turnout. How will these efforts impact the presidential election result, and will 2020 be a tipping point for the impact of the Latino vote?
